Surging Hamlin sends his most emphatic message

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- The initial challenge came late at night, actually early in the morning, at the after-after-after party following last season's Sprint Cup championship banquet. Denny Hamlin threw a massive bash celebrating his fifth-place finish in final points, a soirée in a penthouse villa high above Las Vegas, a party complete with a DJ and a dance floor and an ice sculpture carved in the shape of his primary sponsor's logo. It was in full swing when the host himself took the microphone, leveled his gaze at a certain guest who had recently won his fourth consecutive title, and with a broad smile issued words that now seem prophetic.

Southern 500

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
2.	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet
3.	Kurt Busch	Dodge
4.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
5.	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet

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Denny Hamlin talks about his team is hitting its stride.

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"Next year," he told Jimmie Johnson, "I'm coming for you."

At the time it could have been mistaken for revelry-fueled bluster, one of those things that people were going to believe only after they saw it happen, big talk from someone whose mouth often moved as fast as his race car. But shift forward in time five months, move geographically across a continent, and it all becomes too real. Saturday night at Darlington Raceway brought not talk, but action, and the most eye-opening shot yet across Johnson's bow. Hamlin's first career victory at what is universally regarded as NASCAR's most difficult race track was his biggest step yet toward establishing a new order in the sport's premier series, and making his pledge from Las Vegas come to life.

"All we do is win!" he shouted as his No. 11 car took the checkered flag, giving Hamlin a third victory on the season that knotted him with Johnson for most in Sprint Cup. At the same time Johnson was on his way back to North Carolina, after having the wind knocked out of him in a hard crash that sent the defending champion to his third DNF of the young season. Under the glare of stadium lights, the difference could not have been more stark. Hamlin left Darlington brimming with confidence. Johnson left 110 points behind current series leader Kevin Harvick, and appearing genuinely vulnerable for the first time since he was 156 points down with six events remaining in the 2006 title hunt.

Of course, Johnson rallied to win that championship, the first of his four in a row, with an onslaught of top-two finishes. But there was nobody in his way quite like Hamlin, nobody quite this self-assured, nobody quite this able to unleash a streak capable of matching the championship blow-for-blow. Ever since his impressive finish to the 2009 season, when he reeled off two victories in the year's final five races, Hamlin has believed that he was the one to end Johnson's unprecedented run of dominance. Now, with three victories in six races, with a run of success despite a bad left knee, with a string of new cars in the pipeline at Joe Gibbs Racing, others are beginning to believe, too. (Continued)